


pluto's redemption

by smokesque



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: (kind of), Alternate Universe - College/University, First Meetings, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-27 16:02:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8407903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smokesque/pseuds/smokesque
Summary: "You wanna join the cause to give Pluto its rights back as a planet?""Yeah, alright."(that one time oikawa spilled coffee on an attractive english major and somehow ended up with a new pluto support group member)





	

**Author's Note:**

> for chey; our resident pun master, snail deity and provider of incredible art. (this is rushed and late bc _someone_ didn't tell me her birthday was coming up) happy birthday chey !!!!

It isn’t Oikawa’s fault as such. Okay, _technically_ he wasn’t watching where he was going but he likes to think it was just as much the stranger’s fault as his. At least he has a reason – skipping sleep for four days in a row has definitely dulled his awareness so, sue him, he wasn’t monitoring his surroundings as closely as he probably should have been. It’s not like he’s done anything horrifyingly rude though.

The stranger seems to disagree. (Oikawa would like to say it’s unreasonable but the glaringly obvious coffee stain on the stranger’s crisp, white shirt would say otherwise.) There’s a moment of silence as they both flick their stares between the brown stain and the cardboard cup on the ground, oozing more of the offending liquid. The lid has rolled a good few metres away and Oikawa spots it poking out from behind a shrub to one side of the path.

The apology that bubbles up in Oikawa’s throat is lost when he raises his eyes to look at the stranger. The first thing he notices, oddly enough, is the angle of the stranger’s eyebrows like they’ve been shaped to perfection. Oikawa wishes he was that good with an eyebrow pencil. From there, it just gets worse and worse until Oikawa doesn’t think his complexion will survive the rest of the night. Of all the people he could have spilled coffee on it just _had_ to be the most attractive guy he’s had the privilege of setting his eyes on. Damn him.

“You wanna join the cause to give Pluto its rights back as a planet?”

Oikawa cannot for the life of him understand why those are the words that manage to fumble their way out. His tongue feels too heavy for speech, but he’s slow to bite it back and the question is out in the air before he can stop it. He belatedly shoves a flyer at the stranger, training his eyes on the ground before he can say anything significantly more embarrassing. _Even his shoes are polished to perfection. What the hell?_

The stranger doesn’t say anything for a good few minutes and Oikawa can feel the stare burning holes into the back of his hand. Honestly, he wouldn’t be surprised if the stranger hightailed it out of there and left Oikawa’s hand hanging halfway between them for the rest of eternity. It’s probably what he would have done.

“Yeah, alright,” the stranger finally says and the flyer is gently prised from Oikawa’s fingers. And, _what_ , he agreed?

“U-um you… What?”

The stranger’s perfectly shaped eyebrows are knitted together in concentration as he stares at the paper. Oikawa knows the words by heart, having spent hours handing out copies of the flyer, so he studies the stranger’s face instead. _A good face_ , he decides which isn’t the most intelligent verdict he’s ever come up with but he’s having enough trouble keeping his thoughts coherent as it is.

“Little dude didn’t deserve all the shit that’s been thrown at him. I say we just let him live his life.”

Oikawa has been attending meetings for _months_ ; he’s spoken to astronomers, scientists and far too many over-excited astrophysics majors but he has never once heard anyone put it so simply.

“Well, yeah. I mean, dude, yeah! I’m Oikawa Tooru and welcome to the Committee for Pluto’s Redemption or, as we like to call it, The Solar System Strikes Back.”

This time when Oikawa sticks out his hand, it’s with confidence and accompanied by an excited grin. The stranger takes the proffered handshake cautiously, confusion etched into his features.

“Iwaizumi Hajime. I’m part of a committee now?”

“I guess we don’t really have enough people to call it a committee, but you can come to meetings and stuff. I’m on my way to one now if you’re not busy?”

The stranger – or rather _Iwaizumi_ – glances down at the stain on his shirt, readjusts the strap of his bag and heaves a sigh.

“I guess not,” he says and follows after Oikawa, but not before scooping up his now-empty cup and tossing it in the nearest bin.

“What does that mean anyway?”

“Huh?” Oikawa glances over at Iwaizumi when he speaks, curious as to where the question is coming from.

“The Solar System Strikes Back,” (The statement is accompanied by air quotes. Oikawa notes the length of Iwaizumi’s fingers and the layer of dirt under his nails.) “Why do you call it that?”

“Oh so you’ve never seen Star Wars?”

Iwaizumi shrugs like he hasn’t been missing out on a vital part of his childhood. Oikawa is personally offended that his parents took such little care in raising him.

“Meeting now, education later,” Oikawa says, waving his hand dismissively. He tries not to think about what it would be like to marathon the series with Iwaizumi. Would they sit on the couch together? Would he want to cuddle?

His thoughts are broken when he notices the building they’re approaching. (Probably a good thing too, considering how inappropriate it is to be thinking about cuddling with someone he literally just met.) He pushes against the side door, holding it open for Iwaizumi as they both duck inside. The corridor it leads to is dimly lit but Oikawa has been here enough times to know the way blindfolded. They traipse through the building until they come to a sliver of light behind a door cracked open just slightly. Oikawa nudges it fully open without hesitation, grinning as he enters.

“Tooru, nice of you to finally join us.”

Kuroo waves from across the room, smirking like the sarcastic bastard he is.

“Oh shush Tetsu-chan. You won’t be so snarky when you see _why_ I’m late.”

Oikawa motions Iwaizumi forwards and the other steps further into the light. There’s a soft outbreak of _oh_ ’s across the room and Oikawa positively glows with pride.

“This is Iwa-chan and he’s the newest member of our committee.”

Iwaizumi looks like he wants to question something – maybe the committee (again) or maybe the new nickname – but he says nothing instead and nods a greeting towards the rest of the gathered crowd.

Oikawa supposes ‘crowd’ is something of an overstatement. There are only five members of the committee including himself (soon to be six with Iwaizumi’s addition), all of them second years at the college and all of them with nothing better to do than discuss space. It’s true to say that they haven’t made much progress in procuring Pluto a namesake back in the line-up of planets since their first meeting three months ago. But Oikawa is determined to see the fight out until he dies or Pluto regains what was stolen away – whichever occurs first.

The meeting runs smoothly from then on out. It’s Semi’s turn to run the show and he comes prepared with a PowerPoint documenting their progress so far and the stance of NASA’s scientists. Oikawa sits next to Iwaizumi and the gaps between his fingers itch for a reason he can’t explain.

By the time they adjourn for the day, everyone is buzzing with questions for Iwaizumi. They haven’t had new members since Kuroo dragged that first year along to two meetings. (He apparently wasn’t as interested in the cause as Kuroo was convinced he would be.)

Hanamaki and Matsukawa materialise behind Oikawa with zero warning.

“Attractive, studious, interested in Pluto,” Matsukawa whispers in one ear.

“I see he’s ticking all your boxes,” Hanamaki murmurs in the other. They laugh and slap his back in unison, moving off to confront Iwaizumi about his interest in the committee. Oikawa’s skin crawls with the traces their words left behind and the back of his neck burns.

“Iwa-chan, come on. We have a place to be,” he announces loudly, causing the whole group to turn towards him.

“We do?” Iwaizumi raises his eyebrows and fiddles with a charm hanging off his bag strap.

“We do,” Oikawa confirms. “Hurry up.”

Surprisingly enough, Iwaizumi follows without further questioning. He bids goodbye to the other members and promises to return for next week’s meeting before hurrying his way out behind Oikawa. The meeting ran into the evening and it’s past sunset by the time they make their way outside again, but Oikawa doesn’t care. After four days without sleep, he can handle another late night.

“Where is it that we have to be?” Iwaizumi finally asks. If he’s honest, Oikawa is shocked he followed blindly this far.

“The café, of course,” he says cheerfully. A small skip makes its way into his step, nothing more than a gentle hop, and Iwaizumi alters his speed to accommodate the new pace.

“Of course,” Iwaizumi agrees. “Mind if I ask why?”

“I owe you a coffee, obviously. After what happened before.”

Oikawa resolutely doesn’t look at Iwaizumi when he speaks, worried about the slow reddening on his cheeks. Iwaizumi halts for a split-second and Oikawa sneaks enough of a peek to catch the surprised look before it disappears into impassiveness.

“Yeah, I guess you do,” he says, taking a couple of long strides to make up the gap he’d left between them.

It’s still dark outside, the sun long since having disappeared under the horizon, but it makes no difference because Oikawa’s smile is bright enough to light their way to the café just off campus. And every time their knuckles brush while they walk, it brightens a little more.

**Author's Note:**

> so long story short this started out as a meet-cute au where oikawa was going to spill coffee on iwaizumi and then take him out on a date to make up for it. somehow i included space and it ended up way more self-indulgent than i intended. but maybe i'll write some more chapters if i'm ever feeling motivated?
> 
> if you wanna talk about this au (or anything, really) hmu on tumblr @ [ailourophilic](http://ailourophilic.tumblr.com/)


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